First up, I’m a planner and a recovering perfectionist (details here). I also love stationary and writing things down; almost as much as I love crossing things off my to-do list. I’ve always got an idea and they can “escape” as easily as they come to me. So, all that together, can be a slippery slope called perfectionism that leads to paralysis (couldn’t possibly write in my pretty new planner, etc.).

I love giving gifts. I love it when I find the perfect something. For me that sometimes means making it other times that means purchasing it. I love to gift items consciously and to me that means items that are: well made, filled with good intentions, and made with minimal impact to the environment and animals.

from a recovering perfectionist

Perfectionism has come up several times these past few weeks. (Or is it months? If I’m going to publish this, it should be accurate so which is it? I could sit here for a few minutes and try to remember more accurately, but if I stop writing another idea could pop in my head. Or I could fall down a rabbit hole of Instagram posts while trying to track my conversations on perfectionism and this piece would take months to write, or maybe not get written at all. Forget it. It’s not that important, so what was I saying again? Oh yeah, perfectionism.)

I’ve been meaning to do a book review for The Desire Map for quite some time now. This is my kind of book review since it focuses on what I learned from the book. In my opinion, the best books have big life lessons. And this book delivers BIG lessons.

I read The Desire Map, a book written by Danielle LaPorte, in 2015 shortly after being laid-off. I found it (it found me), right around the same time that I was trying to find myself (again. Or was I trying to re-define myself?)

I don’t do new year’s resolutions. At all. It was liberating a couple years ago when I made that decision.

What do I do instead?

I prepare for the new year.

I start by closing the previous year (more on that here). Then I prepare for the new year by dreaming, planning and strategizing. My Core Desired Feelings (CDFs), a Word of the Year, and a Mantra of the Year are my tools.

I still have a hard time succinctly answering the question, What is Reiki?. I want to say, Let me show you. But here is a bit more of an explanation of what is Reiki and how it works.

What is Reiki?

Reiki is a Japanese energy system for healing, promoting stress reduction and relaxation. The word Reiki translates to universal life energy. Reiki was discovered in Japan by Mikao Usui who began teaching Reiki in the early 1920s.